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Thursday, June 3, 2010

Recap for G54: Astros v. Nationals

Jeebus. Carlos Lee went from Goat to MotM, because he couldn't field what MLB.com called "a soft fly ball" in the top half of the 9th to hitting the game-winning homer in the bottom half of the 9th. Astros win 6-4.

Why They Won

Because Carlos Lee redeemed himself with a walk-off two run homer to left.

Astros Pitching

Name

IP

H/ER

K:BB

Pit-Str

CS/SS

Moehler

5.1

5/2

3:1

67-45 (67.2%)

15/3

Byrdak

0.1

0/0

0:0

3-2 (66.7%)

0/0

Daigle

0.1

2/0

0:0

14-7 (50%)

2/0

Fulchino

1

1/0

0:0

8-6 (75%)

2/0

Lyon

1

1/0

1:0

15-10 (66.7%)

2/5

Lindstrom

1

3/2

1:0

23-16 (69.6%)

4/4

This game almost got away from the Astros. If it wasn't for some iffy defending - on both sides - we'd be looking at a series split. Instead, the Astros win their first series since the sweep at St. Louis from May 11-13.

Lindstrom should have recorded his 12th save of the season. Instead, with two outs, Willie Harris tripled because Lee let the ball drop in front of him, and roll past him, scoring Mike Morse for the tying run, and then giving up a Cristian Guzman single to score Harris for the 4-3 Nationals lead.

Incidentally, this was Lindstrom's third two-run outing in his last four games. In his first 19 games, he had given up five earned runs.

Astros hitting

Okay, Carlos Lee. Maybe you do want to get traded, after all. Lee goes 2x5 with 3RBI including the aforementioned walk-off bomb - his second of the season - and has homered in consecutive games for the first time since May 18-19 (I'll admit, I thought it would be longer than that.)

Kevin Cash hit his first homer since September 2008, and Berkman hit a big fly, as well, meaning that this was the Astros' first 3HR game of the season.

Had the game gotten away, it would have been a total team loss. From the start of the game until Berkman's 3rd inning homer, the Astros went 6x10 (with a reach on Guzman's error). From the next AB (Lee's) until the 9th inning, the Astros went 3x20, 2BB, ROE. And then got three runs in the 9th, thanks to Guzman's second error of the game (and Riggleman's decision to put him in right field, despite Berkman's aptitude to pull the ball). Lee homered, and there's your ball game.

4 comments:

Obviously you didn't see the game or the video. Willie Mays in his prime couldn't have caught that ball. You say Lee "let the ball drop in front of him'' -- there's not a major league outfielder alive who could've caught up to that bleeder. Also, the ball was hit off the end of the bat so it was spinning crazily when it hit. It bounced away from Lee. Again, not sure but what Mays in his prime would've been chasing that ball down in the corner. Why always the negativity toward Lee? Of course, the season-long slump has been bewildering and frustrating. But, as Wade predicts, he'll be up around .300 when it's all said and done and probably be near his 100 RBI too.

No. I did. You're correct on a couple of things: the ball was hit off the end of the bat. And it did bounce away from him. But the issue is with Lee's conditioning. Willie Mays may not have been able to catch that when he played for the Mets, but that was not an uncatchable ball. He ran at that fly ball like he was trying to run over a puddle of water. There are probably 20 left fielders who could have caught up to it and caught it.

But the larger question is about Lee's negativity. This is a valid question. I don't care that he's making $18 million - who wouldn't sign a contract like that? Maybe it's because when it was clear that Berkman was going to be out, and the Astros needed Lee to do his thing, he hit .104 through the first 12 games of the season. He may go on a tear, but I don't think he'll come near .300 this year. I'll think about it, and get back to you.

It is pretty obvious that Lee is beginning the descent of his career. His slugging percentage was down about 80 points last year, and he's on pace to hit just 21 home runs this year (that would be his lowest total since his rookie year).

His WAR is an ugly -1.7, and his VORP for the season is -7.5 (he's about as below the league average in offensive production at his position as Tommy Manzella is).

Stat of the day: Guess how many walks Pedro Feliz, Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence have combined for this season?25 (the same number as Michael Bourn). Lance Berkman has 26, while league leaders Pujols and Josh Willingham have 39.

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